He Should Know
by LoonyLoopyLupin96
Summary: They'd parted on bad terms; Remus, believing Severus to be a traitor. As the battle draws to a close, will Severus have time to find him and tell him he truth? And then... what will occur when they meet on the other side.
1. Hunt The Truth

Around him – within the broken walls of the castle, his colleagues duelled. They duelled with the Death Eaters; those who considered him an ally. His old friends fought valiantly alongside one another; those who considered him a traitor. And yet here he was, away from the fray.

Severus Snape stood, staring out onto the crisp, burnt forest beneath the window. There were yells coming from within the ever decreasing trees, as more and more Wizards fell.

He once would have longed to be fighting. He used to dream of the days when he and Remus would stand side by side, fighting for each other. Fighting for themselves. But then, nothing went according to plan. Not with two people. Two very different people.

Ah yes, Remus.

Severus was surprised to find a tear roll down his cheek, as he recalled the parting between he and his partner.

His partner; he who had sworn to stand by Severus for all eternity, couldn't take any more.

He, like all the others, believed Severus to be a traitor. An enemy.

"This is one step too far, I'm afraid. It's finished."

'It's finished.'

The words rang over and over in Severus' mind.

Would it be too later to make Remus see the truth?

'That's if he is still alive,' a cruel voice reminded Severus.

He had to try, at least. After everything the two of them had done with one another. After all the times they had stuck together, against their peers.

Remus had to know.

He had to know some part of the truth. That Severus hadn't gone a day without thinking of him. That knowing he was still alive, was all that got Severus through the days.

Remus had to know.

Another flash caught Severus' eye, through the window, and he watched on in well-disguised horror, at the scene unfolding before him.

One of his colleagues were being tortured. Tortured for information only he, Severus, possessed.

It was surely too late to save them; they blamed Severus anyway.

But Remus. There was still time. Hopefully.

Severus tore his gaze from the gut wrenching scene outside amidst the darkness, and turned; his cloak billowing behind him.

He had no idea where Remus was. No psychic bond to guide him there, no nothing.

Wasting no more time, Severus made his way down the corridor, and down the stairs. Neatly dodging curses and hexes sent his way by old friends and colleagues.

He ignored Minerva's call of, "Come back and fight you coward." For the first time ever, he no longer cared what the others thought of him. Remus was all that mattered.

Remus had to know.

Severus came to a standstill, in the empty doorway as he looked out across the hall. It was hard to decifer friend from foe, within all the flashes and the cries.

The wall's boundaries also presented a hard task of allowing Severus some privacy, as he spoke to Remus. But then, he remembered, now wasn't the time for a fond, loving conversation.

Now was the time for good bye.

"Good bye, Remus," a soft whisper came, immediately after Severus had had this thought.

It was Tonks. Of course – Severus hadn't spared a thought for her. But he saw Bellatrix standing over her; pleased to have done what she had longed to do for so long.

This meant Remus was close.

"Severus," a wispy voice cried out.

He would know that voice anywhere, and so Severus immediately made his way over, and crouched down beside Remus.

A simple glance from Severus informed him immediately of the situation; He, Remus, had been cursed; the Cruciatus curse. One too many times, by the look of things.

Putting his arm beneath Remus' pale, withered body, raising him from the ground slightly, Severus forced himself to look down at Remus.

"I...I..." Severus struggled to say what he knew he could only have minutes left to say.

Remus looked at Severus. He looked neither loving nor angry. Merely sad; somewhat regretful. His time had come, and he knew it.

"I need to say this. I should have said it so much sooner..." Severus rambled, "And I've left it too late. I should never have let you go, Rem, I shouldn't."

Tears began pouring down his cheeks.

"It was the worst mistake of my life; letting you go. Whilst you still believed..." Severus continued.

As seconds passed, Remus seemed to get weaker and weaker.

"I just...I..."

He wasn't going to manage it. Severus had struggled his way down to Remus, and run out of time to say anything.

He had screwed up. Again.

But then there was a small change in Remus' stature. The small hint of light shone through Remus' empty, shallow eyes.

Severus, having studied this eyes for well over a decade, knew these eyes so well; better than his own – and so he saw the change instantly.

And as Remus' eyes bore into him; the light fading from them, Severus saw the realisation finally seep through him.

Remus' pale, chapped lips parted slightly, as a dry, scarred tongue attempted to wet them slightly.

"I..."

Remus couldn't speak. He was much too weak. And though he desperately wanted to hear what Remus had to say, he decided he had caused too much pain, for the now dying man before him. And so, instead, Severus shook his head carefully. He ignored the shouts of the Order, echoing around him. All that mattered now, was the Remus knew the truth. He could live with that, surely?

"L-l..." Remus tried again anyway – he was still as stubborn as he used to be, Severus' mind registered, making him chuckle quietly, sadly as he watched the life leave his lover's eyes.

"I love you, Rem," Severus whispered, "Always."


	2. The Other Side

Severus watched Remus for a moment longer, and waited for the closure of Remus' eyes; for the light to leave them fully.

The once soft, milky brown eyes – now lifeless, and empty.

Unsure of how long he sat there, Severus just stared down at Remus' body.

"There you are," a wispy voice of another kind broke through to Severus. As he brought himself to look up, away from Remus' face, Severus saw the gradually deserting room, in an unknowledgeable focus.

His eyes, swollen and sore, had dried. Stone dry. Like his heart; he commended. There were no more tears to shed.

Lucius headed towards him.

It took a moment for Severus to even realise it was Lucius. He too, it appeared, had been affected greatly by his imprisonment, and departure.

Where he once had long, almost golden hair; it now hung limply, not unlike Severus' own hair.

"The Dark Lord wishes to see you," Lucius said, not even commenting on the way Severus clutched at Remus' lifeless body.

"Now?" Severus asked. His own voice, once uplifted with the brief joy of having Remus against him once more, was now empty; like Remus' eyes. Like the room.

"Now," Lucius confirmed.

Severus took his gaze back to Remus. His neck stung slightly; stiff from having looked down at Remus for so long.

He stayed like that for a good few minutes, thinking of the fact that he would soon be joining Remus – wherever he was.

"Now," Lucius repeated, agitated at the thought of being in trouble once again, with the Dark Lord.

"I'm coming," Severus snapped.

Flinching, Lucius took a step back; retreating.

"He's in the boat house," Lucius informed, turning his back of the lonely, desolate man before him.

Severus shrugged, indifferent.

"This is what happens, you see, when love gets in the way..." Severus thought; the mental voice sounding very like Albus. The voice was cheerful, smiling.

Severus closed his eyes, and found himself imagining Albus standing there, before him.

Albus stood, looking down at Severus with large, proud eyes. The elemental colouring of them, shining fondly.

"Is he there, with you?" Severus asked him immediately.

"Waiting patiently for you, my Son," Albus replied.

"I'll be joining him soon. Could you tell him for me, please?" Severus asked, his voice no longer sounding as dreary as it did in reality, his neck feeling fine.

"Do not hurry. He shall wait forever; never fear it. Do not doubt him," Albus warned.

Severus nodded, not really listening as the day-dream faded from his mind.

He tore his eyes open; not really seeing the room around him, as he unwound his arms from Remus.

"I love you, Rem," he repeated to the figure before him.

Severus rose, and cast one mildly hopeful look at Remus, before making his way out of the room.

"Naigini," The Dark Lord instructed.

Severus' eyes snapped shut as the snake's jaws clamed around him.

Pain coursed through him; knocking him to the ground as the snake poised to attack again and again.

"You have been a faithful servant," The Dark Lord added carelessly, "Naigini, come."

The blood trailed from Severus' body, before the life did.

The world flickered around him as unconsciousness came to the forthright, willing to take precedence.

"Severus," Remus' hesitant voice struck a chord in Severus' numbing body.

Looking out across the blank canvas of the hillside, Severus saw Remus.

Remus held out a hand to Severus, saying, "You're almost there now, I believe. Though I don't think it's too late to turn back," Remus added as an afterthought.

"Still the same sensible fool you always were?" Severus' voice; clearer on the other side, muttered.

Remus smiled at the jibe, and seemed set to keep Severus' mind from the searing agony in that that was real life.

"Concentrate on me, love," Remus said. The words triggered something within Severus. Something he had never thought to feel again.

Severus focused on Remus' face, unable to hold back a brief wince.

"Concentrate," Remus repeated.

Uncharacteristically obeying, Severus' mind gradually became more and more alert where Remus stood, encouraging.

In the real world, the life left Severus' body; cut, torn and bloody.

In heaven; his life had just begun.

Again.


End file.
